The dock workers requested a meeting with the two larger
contractors which hire them as they see this as a more
“meaningful” discussion, Wong Yu-loy, a representative of the
Union of Hong Kong Dockers, said by phone today. “A meeting is
unlikely today,” he said. “The earliest would be tomorrow.”

The workers, who are employed by contractors instead of
Hongkong International Terminals directly, have been striking to
demand a pay increase of about 25 percent amid higher inflation.
About 250 to 300 workers remained on the street outside the
entrance of the port in Hong Kong’s Kwai Tsing district, Wong
said. Labor discontent has risen as Hong Kong’s wealth gap
widened to the biggest since records started in 1971.

A high court ruling yesterday allowed no more than 80
workers to return to the container terminal area at Kwai Tsing
after they were all earlier barred from entering. The union sent
about 80 of its members back to the terminal around midday today
to protest and persuade other workers to join the strike, Cable
TV reported.

The workers are demanding that hourly wages rise by
HK$12.50 ($1.60) from about HK$50, the union said earlier.
Strikers won’t accept an offer of a 5 percent pay increase,
Radio Television Hong Kong reported on April 3, citing Lee Cheuk-yan, a lawmaker from Hong Kong’s Labour Party.